Hidden among the trees at the base of Mount Tamalpais, Phoenix Lake is one of the smallest, but perhaps most beautiful, gems in a series of reservoirs spread across Marin County. In the past few weeks, the reservoir has lost some of its beauty as the water has sunk to historically low levels. The terrain of the shrinking lake – with its dry, cracked and exposed edges – alarms many residents and visitors. “I’ve never seen it so low,” said Laura Ackley, a Marin resident and author of the book, San Francisco’s Jewel City: the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915. “That was not the case at all with the 2015 drought.” 1of3A cyclist passes a sign promoting water conservation at Phoenix Lake on April 21, 2021 in Ross, California. Marin County was the first California county to introduce mandatory water use restrictions, due to go into effect May 1st. Residents are told not to wash cars at home, refill pools, and water lawns only once a week. California Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a drought emergency in Sonoma and Mendocino counties as the state’s drought worsens.Justin Sullivan / Getty ImagesShow MoreShow Less 2of3Low water is on April 21, 2021 in Ross, California, on Phoenix Lake visible. Marin County was the first California county to introduce mandatory water use restrictions, due to go into effect May 1st. Residents are instructed not to wash cars at home, refill pools, and water lawns only once a week. California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a drought emergency in Sonoma and Mendocino counties as the state worsened drought. Justin Sullivan / Getty ImagesShow MoreShow Less3 of 3 Ackley has lived in Marin for more than 30 years and regularly visits the lake for hikes and walks, but recently moved closer to her home in San Rafael due to COVID. When she returned to Phoenix Lake after a month of hiking on April 21, she said, “It was a shock. This hasn’t been a gradual process for me. “Ackley posted a picture of her hike on Facebook, calling it” beyond depressing. “Many in the comments agreed.” Phoenix Lake is one of my favorite hiking / running spots, “one user wrote. “That makes me very sad.” A fisherman stands on the arid shores of Phoenix Lake in Ross, California on April 21, 2021. Marin County was the first district in California to put mandatory water use restrictions in place, effective May 1 Residents are ordered not to wash their cars at home, refill pools and water their lawns only once a week. California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a drought emergency in Sonoma and Mendocino counties as the state worsened Justin Sullivan / Getty Images The lake draws people from across the Bay Area who are drawn to its serene surroundings and network of hiking trails, ie e extend into the over 150 miles of hiking trails and dirt roads of the Marin Municipal Water District. The backdrop of the lake is so beautiful that the producers of the 1998 film “What Dreams May Come” with the late Robin Williams used it as a backdrop for a scene in heaven. The crew planted flowers on the shores of the lake, but Phoenix Lake remains largely untouched, according to the Marin Independent journal. But this idyllic ideal is threatened by the impending drought. Phoenix Lake and all seven of the waterfront’s seven reservoirs are facing low water levels after two exceptionally dry winters in a row. A Prohibition Sign will be posted on the shores of Phoenix Lake on April 21, 2021 in Ross, California. Marin County was the first California county to introduce mandatory water use restrictions, due to go into effect May 1st. Residents are told not to wash cars at home, refill pools, and water lawns only once a week. California Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a drought emergency in Sonoma and Mendocino counties as the worsening drought hits the state. Justin Sullivan / Getty Images earlier this month the district declared a water shortage emergency and imposed mandatory restrictions on customers, including bans car washing, washing and washing of sidewalks and driveways. Golf course irrigation will be limited to greens and tees from May 20th. The district’s total reservoir storage volume as of April 29 is 50.73% of total storage. Seventy-five percent of the district’s water supply depends on rainfall in the county’s catchment area; the remaining 25% will be imported by the Sonoma County Water Agency, the district said. “In 2020 the district received just over 20 inches of rain, the second lowest amount of rainfall for the district’s watershed in 90 years,” they said. Phoenix Lake appears dramatically low because the district pumps water from it into the larger Bon Tempe Reservoir. The water then reaches the Bon Tempe sewage treatment plant before it enters the drinking water distribution system. “Depending on where the customers are in our system (and the distance from the sewage treatment plant), the water either flows directly to their homes and businesses or is pumped into a storage tank and then delivered to households and businesses,” says Jeanne Mariani -Belding a county spokesman wrote in an email. “The phoenix water was used as drinking water.” Low water levels are seen at Phoenix Lake on April 21, 2021 in Ross, California. Marin County was the first California county to introduce mandatory water use restrictions, due to go into effect May 1st. Residents are instructed not to wash cars at home, refill pools, and water lawns only once a week. California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a drought emergency in Sonoma and Mendocino counties as the worsening drought hit the state. Justin Sullivan / Getty Images The district typically doesn’t pump water from Phoenix Lake when there is plenty of water. The last time the district had to draw supplies from the lake was in 2014, amid the severe drought from 2012 to 2016, Mariani-Belding said. “We are able to be in a drought or a record,” she said. “Our storage reserves are even lower than they were in the 1970s. This is how we manage our water supplies to bring them to our customers. ”Chris Ellinger, who grew up in Marin County and now runs the Lost Marin Facebook group from his home in Portland, Oregon, recalls that the lake was in was low in the 1980s. “It was right after I graduated from high school,” Ellinger told SFGATE. I remember a couple of friends and I went down there and trudged around in the mud. We brought our foldable fishing rods – Ronco Pocket Fisherman – and tried to catch fish. We wanted to fish in the almost empty lake. I remember it was very cracked, dried up on top. There were only a few places to walk or your feet would go right through it. ”
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